A visual diary of what i encounter each day. Most of the pictures posted here were taken in or near Rogers Park in Chicago, but others were taken wherever i happened to be that day.

Friday, June 29, 2012

29 June 2012, Day 24, Pt.2

Tonight at midnight the Morse Ave. Red Line station will close for six weeks while it gets a much-needed face-lift. Even though i complain a lot about the condition of this station, i'm already feeling a little nostalgic for its urban grit and seedy splendor. So i decided to make a little album of "before" pictures for future reference.

This is a view from the platform showing the staging area and mountain of gravel on Morse Ave. east of Glenwood.

If you look closely, you'll see the station agent in the booth smiling. He saw me taking pictures and asked, "Oh, what are you doing? before-and-after pictures? Good idea." I'm so glad that he was working instead of that miserable woman that i said good morning to everyday for about five years without ever getting more than a grunt in acknowledgement.

I feel so badly that this picture is out of focus, but felt like i had to include it anyway because this woman was such a peach. I was getting ready to take a picture of the stairs leading up to the platform when i saw her and put the camera down while she finished walking down the steps (I try to be respectful of the fact that not everyone wants to be digitized for posterity). "Go ahead," she said, "take my picture. Is it going to be in the newspaper?" I explained that i was just taking a few pictures of the station before it closed, but she proceeded to strike a few poses for me, and the two of us just cracked up laughing.

I think that the thing i'll miss most is the wooden platform, even though it was in pretty bad shape and borderline dangerous. As far as i know, it will be replaced with concrete.